RDS: The RD Gateway server should be configured to allow an adequate number of simultaneous connections

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic is intended to address a specific issue identified by a Best Practices Analyzer scan. You should apply the information in this topic only to computers that have had the Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer run against them and are experiencing the issue addressed by this topic. For more information about best practices and scans, see Best Practices Analyzer.

Operating System

Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Product/Feature

Remote Desktop Services

Severity

Warning

Category

Configuration

Issue

The Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) server has reached the limit on the maximum number of simultaneous connections allowed.

Impact

If the RD Gateway server is configured to limit the number of simultaneous connections allowed, users making new connections will be unable to connect to internal network resources (computers) through the RD Gateway server when the limit is exceeded.

Resolution

Monitor the performance of the RD Gateway server to determine the maximum number of connections that the RD Gateway server can support. If necessary, use the RD Gateway Manager tool to reconfigure the maximum number of simultaneous connections allowed.

Use the following to help achieve better performance from your RD Gateway server:

  • Monitor an RD Gateway server for connection status and reporting

    • Specify RD Gateway events to a log

    • View active connection details on an RD Gateway server

    • Modify the refresh interval for displaying RD Gateway connection information

  • Configure the number of simultaneous connections through an RD Gateway server

Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, on the RD Gateway server that you plan to configure, is the minimum required to complete the following procedures.

To monitor an RD Gateway server for connection status and reporting

  1. Specify RD Gateway events to log.

    By using RD Gateway Manager, you can specify the types of events that you want to monitor, such as unsuccessful or successful connection attempts to internal network resources (computers) through an RD Gateway Manager server.

    When these events occur, you can monitor the corresponding events by using Windows Event Viewer. RD Gateway Manager server events are stored in Event Viewer under Application and Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\Terminal Services-Gateway\.

    1. On the RD Gateway server open RD Gateway Manager. To open RD Gateway Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click RD Gateway Manager.

    2. In the console tree, right-click the node that represents your RD Gateway server, which is named for the computer on which the RD Gateway server is running, and then click Properties.

    3. On the Auditing tab, select or clear the appropriate check boxes to specify the events that you want to monitor for RD Gateway, and then click OK.

  2. View active connection details through an RD Gateway server.

    You can use RD Gateway Manager to view information about active connections from Remote Desktop Services clients to internal network resources (computers) through RD Gateway.

    1. On the RD Gateway server open RD Gateway Manager. To open RD Gateway Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click RD Gateway Manager.

    2. In the console tree, expand the node that represents your RD Gateway server, which is named for the computer on which the RD Gateway server is running.

    3. In the console tree, click Monitoring.

      The RD Gateway Manager results pane displays a summary of the number of connections from remote users to computers on the internal network. Specific connections, if any, are listed below the summary.

      When you click a connection, the connection details appear in the lower pane. If necessary, you can disconnect a specific connection or all RD Gateway connections for a user.

    4. To refresh the display of connection status, in the Actions pane, click Refresh.

  3. Modify the refresh interval for displaying RD Gateway connection information.

    By default, the display of RD Gateway connection status is refreshed automatically every 30 minutes. You can modify the refresh interval or specify that the display of this information not be refreshed automatically.

Important

Setting the refresh interval to a value of less than 10 minutes can adversely impact the performance of the RD Gateway server.

1.  On the RD Gateway server open RD Gateway Manager. To open RD Gateway Manager, click **Start**, point to **Administrative Tools**, point to **Remote Desktop Services**, and then click **RD Gateway Manager**.  
      
2.  In the console tree, expand the node that represents your RD Gateway server, which is named for the computer on which the RD Gateway server is running.  
      
3.  In the console tree, click **Monitoring**.  
      
4.  Right-click **Monitoring**, and then click **Set Automatic Refresh Options**.  
      
5.  In the **Set Automatic Refresh Options** dialog box, do either of the following:  
      
      - To specify that the display of RD Gateway connection information not be refreshed automatically, click **Do not refresh automatically**.  
          
      - To specify that the display of RD Gateway connection information be refreshed automatically, click **Refresh automatically**, and then specify a value as needed.  
          
6.  Click **OK**.  
      

To configure the number of simultaneous connections through an RD Gateway server

  1. On the RD Gateway server open RD Gateway Manager. To open RD Gateway Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click RD Gateway Manager.

  2. In the console tree, expand the node that represents your RD Gateway server, which is named for the computer on which the RD Gateway server is running.

  3. In the console tree, right-click Monitoring, and then click Edit Connection Limit.

  4. On the General tab, under Maximum Connections select one of the following:

    • To set a limit for the maximum number of simultaneous connections that Remote Desktop Services clients can make to network resources by using RD Gateway, click Limit maximum allowed simultaneous connections to, and then specify the number of allowable connections.

    • To set no limit on the number of allowable connections between clients and internal network resources through RD Gateway, click Allow the maximum supported simultaneous connections. This is the default option.

Important

A maximum of 250 simultaneous connections is supported on RD Gateway servers that are running on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard.

  1. Click OK.

Additional references

See Also

Concepts

Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services: Configuration
Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services